


After Action Report

by morwen_of_gondor



Series: The Kingston Shatterpoint [3]
Category: Hornblower (TV), Hornblower - C. S. Forester
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Book 3: Hornblower and the Hotspur, Bush is canonically not impressed, Gen, Horatio canonically minimises his exploits in reports, Male Friendship, The Royal Navy, in this 'verse Bush can do something about that, post-"The First Variation"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:22:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27905176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morwen_of_gondor/pseuds/morwen_of_gondor
Summary: Commander Bush of HMSHotspuris not impressed by his first lieutenant's habit of...creatively editinghis reports, but not for the reason you might expect.
Relationships: Horatio Hornblower & Archie Kennedy, Horatio Hornblower & William Bush
Series: The Kingston Shatterpoint [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2032912
Comments: 8
Kudos: 13





	After Action Report

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place in the continuity of _The First Variation: One Point North,_ but may be compatible with other continuities as well.

There was an ominous howl overhead from the direction of the guns on the south side of the bay, and then a solid _clunk_ as the explosive shell landed on _Hotspur’s_ deck. For a moment it seemed as though all the world was frozen in time while the shell’s fuse hissed and sputtered. Then First Lieutenant Hornblower cast off the paralysis that had overtaken the rest of the _Hotspur’s_ crew and dove towards the shell, batting frantically at the fuse with bare hands until it was quite definitely out, and then throwing it overboard for good measure.

The crew remained frozen, staring at Hornblower, until he moved back towards the quarterdeck, ignoring his burned hands, which were already showing red and blistered. Captain Bush headed him off at once with a gruff, "Off to the surgeon with you, Hornblower," and that galvanised the crew into motion once more, as _Hotspur_ sailed back out of the bay and Hornblower obediently made his way towards the cockpit to have his hands seen to.

Some hours later, Bush cast a cursory eye over the sheet of paper that held Hornblower’s report. His first lieutenant could be relied upon to produce satisfactory work in that department as much as in every other, so he rarely made any suggestions. This time, however, a particular phrase caught his attention — the mention of an explosive shell which "fortunately failed to explode". "Mr. Hornblower," he called after the form which was already retreating down the companionway.

"Sir?" Hornblower returned to the cabin, looking both inquiring and a little apprehensive.

"What do you mean by this, Hornblower? 'Fortunately failed to explode'?"

"Well, sir, the shell did strike us but did not explode."

"Because you put it out with your bare hands, man! I’ve put you down for a commendation in my report; what would it look like if you put it down to chance in yours?"

"Sorry, sir."

"Don’t be sorry, go and rewrite it."

Hornblower looked suddenly helpless. His mask of impassivity had dropped away, as Bush noticed it did sometimes when events caught him very much by surprise. "But sir," he began to protest.

"I gave you an order, Mr. Hornblower. Most men don’t need to be ordered to report their own courage."

"How, sir?"

"How what, Mr. Hornblower?"

"How can I write that?"

Bush gave way to his feelings sufficiently to give Hornblower the sort of look he had seen Kennedy aim at him often enough when they were lodging together in Portsmouth. Hornblower shifted uncomfortably under his scrutiny. He knew well enough that Bush composed his own reports with previous issues of the _Gazette_ in front of him to look up the right sort of phrases, but now that Bush was his superior neither of them was going to mention it.

"I was terrified," Hornblower continued. "I thought I’d be blown to bloody rags. I can’t take credit for that."

"Mr. Hornblower," Bush began wearily, and found himself lost for words. He knew well enough the distinction between courage and fearlessness, but it was not the sort of knowledge that he could express in words. And it would never have occurred him to bother about how he felt about his own actions in a report. This latter idea, at least, he could explain easily enough, and it would serve to get his other point across as well, he realised with a glow of pleasure. "Your report is to deal with your actions, not with only those actions you feel you deserve credit for. I trust you have not left out any other salient points because you felt that the actor did not deserve credit?"

"Of course not, sir," Hornblower stammered. "I’d never deprive a man of credit for his actions regardless of what I thought his motives were."

Bush just restrained himself from smiling. It was no easy feat to talk Hornblower into a corner, but to show his pleasure at this triumph (even though the triumph was really in Hornblower's favour) would be ungentlemanly. He could see, besides, that the point had sunk in. "I’ll rewrite it, sir," said Hornblower.

"Very good, Mr. Hornblower," said Bush, and turned back to poring over the Gazette. And if he added one or two extra choice phrases in praise of his subordinate's "exemplary quickness of action," well, as the captain he was allowed to write what he pleased.

"What on earth are you doing now, Horatio?" Archie asked, watching Horatio grouse his way through yet another sheet of paper under the wardroom lamp.

"Rewriting my report," Horatio said, biting his quill.

"What?" Horatio almost never rewrote his reports.

"Captain Bush ordered me to."

Bush was not known for interfering in the writing of his lieutenants' reports. "What? Why?"

By way of answer Horatio flicked his old report towards Archie, who skimmed through it until he reached what he had no doubt was the passage that had offended Bush. "Fortunately failed to explode?"

"The shell struck the Hotspur, and did not explode." Horatio sounded like a man exasperated at the inability of the world to grasp simple facts.

"Because you put it out, as you have the burns to prove!"

"Captain Bush said much the same thing."

"Good for Captain Bush. Why on earth did you leave it out anyway?"

"Ha-hm." 

"Horatio."

"I did not feel that I deserved the commendations which would accompany a report of my actions, as I was quite terrified when I took them."

"And what the devil does that have to do with it?"

Horatio scowled horribly at his half-written report. "Is it not quite clear that my own cowardice…"

Archie cut him off. "Cowardice? Horatio, if you were afraid when you put that shell out that makes you more brave, not less. It's only cowardice if you let being afraid stop you from doing what you have to do. You know that; you had to remind me of it in France, remember? You've never called me a coward for panicking outright, and you'll condemn yourself for being afraid even when you don't show it?"

"Ha-hm."

Archie rolled his eyes. "Ha-hm" was Horatio's favourite non-committal response, but he and Bush had gotten quite good at interpreting what he meant by it over the months they had spent in Portsmouth together. His own report was written already, but he pretended to focus on it to relieve Horatio's obvious embarrassment. The cough had told him that he had won his point anyway, though he suspected from how easy that had been (comparatively speaking) that Captain Bush had already said something on the subject. Horatio took careful handling, and Archie was more glad than he could say to be sailing under a captain who not only understood his moods but was sufficiently concerned to check the more self-destructive ones.

**Author's Note:**

> I had to leave the _Hornblower_ characters alone for a bit to write the latest update to WOTR, but the muse came right back when I was done, so here you go.


End file.
